


Degrade

by Teatyme



Category: The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, I will be updating them as i go, Major character death - Freeform, Tags Are Hard, Vague descriptions of everything, but its the mechs to they get better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teatyme/pseuds/Teatyme
Summary: Lyfrassir didn’t know what they had expected, being the last surviving person of a cosmically destroyed galaxy. There hadn’t been much planning involved other than ‘Run’. So, it’s lucky that the narrative finds it suiting to find them. Just in time.
Relationships: Lyfrassir Edda/Marius von Raum
Comments: 51
Kudos: 168





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a couple weeks ago when I read all the 'the mechs find/adopt Lyf' fics and decided there needed to be more of them. This fic is the one I wanted to read but it didn't exist so i had to do it myself lmao. Are people probably OOC? Yes. Do I particularly care? Not really. I've rated it Teen cause I'm not planning any particularly detailed descriptions of anything.
> 
> This is my first fic for this fandom but also the first that i've pre-written to any extent. I don't have a good estimate for how long this will end up being but i've gotten a good 12k words so far so at the very least that will all get published in time. I also don't really have an update schedule beyond around once a week? It'll depend on how busy I am during the week.
> 
> But anyway enjoy :)

Lyfrassir was starting to lose track. Once they’d left the mining colony far behind, too panicked to do more than set off in the direct opposite direction of the rest of the system, the days had started to blur together. They had tried to keep to a routine those first few weeks. Tried to fake some sort of normalcy after the first few days of panic and radio transmissions of those consumed into the rainbow terror of the Bifrost. They hadn’t torn out the radio then despite the temptation. They had kept it, even when turning it off hadn’t quieted the screams that had still echoed in their ears. The first few weeks had been as close to normal as they could have hoped for. The isolation hadn’t helped with coping with the loss of their home system. They were utterly alone and fairly certain that no one else had escaped. They had tried to warn some of the people on Hoddmimis to get out of the system, but they had only gotten blank stares in return.

The first few weeks bled into months and Lyfrassir had lost track. Alone as they were on their small spacecraft, there wasn’t much to do but wait and watch the stars go by. They hadn’t packed much in the way of entertainment when they’d first left and had only picked up more essentials on Hoddmimis. It felt too soon that the nightmares started. The twisting colorful horror of what happened to the train and Odin’s ever present staring haunting their dreams. For a while they simply didn’t sleep unless necessary. It only worked for so long until they could feel Odin’s gaze in their waking hours.

They paced the small cabin of the ship. At first as a method of exercise, a way to keep moving even as their ship hurtled its way through empty space. Seven paces from port to starboard. Eventually they stopped counting their steps as they went back and forth. Too quickly the pacing turned to being an attempt at distraction. Odin’s unflinching gaze upon them and the low buzz of static drove them to pacing, clinging to the small concentration it took to not walk into the walls to keep their mind off the rainbow madness they knew was calling. By now the radio was gone. They had torn it out along with a good amount of the ship’s speakers not long after they started to hear the singing and the whispers and the soothing voices calling to them. It hadn’t stopped it. They kept pacing, almost more out of habit now, only really pausing to eat or sleep when starvation and exhaustion threatened.

They didn’t notice when the spaceship started to drift. They didn’t notice when the computer system tried to warn them that one of the thrusters had stopped functioning or when the ship itself switched into emergency power mode. They didn’t notice as their food supplies dwindled into nothing. They didn’t notice the slow creeping rainbow fog across their vision or how the number of paces across the ship turned from seven to five to three. They didn’t notice the shifting multicolored splotches developing on the walls or how the path they’d worn into the floor was spreading variegated cracks along the ground spilling rainbow light. They don’t notice the ping on the ship’s console of another ship nearby.

They do notice, however, when the ship gently lurches as a docking system engages. The static and the calls are silent for the first time in far too long and the quiet rings in their ears. They can hear the airlock system working and voices as the outer door opens. Through the warped door of the cabin they can hear a discussion, but the meaning flits away through the rainbow fog that's stuffed their head with cotton colors. Whoever had boarded their ship seem to have a disagreement as the voices raise to shouts before the door is violently kicked open. The stranger that comes through manages a few shots before many limbs seize them and rip the man into pieces. The parts are quickly discarded around the room and the prismatic colors of the walls shift to accommodate the gore in their patterns.

Something itches at the back of their mind. Something they should know, should remember. The next one through the door almost makes it further before he’s caught and pinned against the wall. Another shouts something, a name, and the fragment of thought clicks into place. They recognize this one. They freeze, maw full of fangs and void inches from shredding the man, Marius, and instead study him with too many eyes. The fog still clogs their thoughts but it's beginning to clear the longer they spend trying to understand. In their grasp Von Raum is speaking. His head turned towards the door but not taking his eyes off them. The meaning of his words gaining traction in the slowly fading fog but not quite enough to catch.

Two more people come through the door. They’re cautious this time, slowly and deliberately moving in an attempt to not provoke them. One they recognize, Alexandria, skirts around towards the ship controls. They leave her be, slightly more concerned with keeping an eye on the stranger moving towards Von Raum as they try to think their mind clear. For a brief moment nothing happens, and then the stranger aims at their face and fires. They let out a crackling hiss as the shot lands and lash out, spearing the man through the chest before throwing them hard against the opposite wall. Von Raum is speaking again, babbling something in their direction and this time the words make sense.

“Okay. Okay. No guns. That’s fine. No guns. I can do no guns. See, no gun!” He stammers, twiddling his fingers where they’re pinned to the wall for emphasis. When they don’t move he glances over to where Alexandria is still heading for the console. “Uh, hey. Ivy? Any ideas?”

“Don’t shoot it.” She says, apparently deciding to leave Von Raum to his fate.

“Cool. That’s a great help.” He says with a sigh before turning his focus back to them. “Hi, big... spooky monster... I’m Baron Marius von Raum. Do you- Do you like music? If you let me go I could play something for you. See, I play the viol-”

They hiss, the familiar annoyance sparking through them. They tighten their grip, choking off Von Raum’s bargaining for a moment as the wall creaks slightly under the pressure. They loosen it enough for him to breath again and he gasps a moment before picking up where he left off.

“Got it. Message received. No guns and no violins.... Right...” Von Raum keeps babbling but they’re no longer paying attention.

The familiar faces and familiar annoyance shook them loose. They can feel themself start to crack. The sounds of the Bifrost back with vengeful anger as they claw their sanity back. Their many extra limbs and tentacles that they’re only now fully aware of start to disappear. Some curl tight against them and vanish while others disintegrate like falling sand. Still more simply shatter into rainbow light. Their hold on Von Raum slips and they stumble backwards, almost surprised they don’t hit the other wall as the room seems to grow around them. Hunched over they stagger unbalanced and bring their hands to their face. They feel it shift beneath their fingers before settling back to familiarity, covered in what Lyf sincerely hopes are tears. They choke on what could be a laugh or a sob and lift their head. Von Raum hasn’t moved from where Lyf had pinned them, though he’s staring at them in stunned silence.

After a moment his expression shifts to confusion. “Inspector Lyf??”

They laugh again and it’s altogether too much. They stagger once and then they’re falling into the blissfully quiet dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mechanisms tend to have as many normal days as not. Today the plot has deemed it not one of those days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thursday! I don't have too much to say for this chapter beyond that we have more people appearing! This chapter is where the 'people may or may not be OOC warning' comes into play more so than the last but I don't think anyone is blatantly ooc.
> 
> So enjoy and lemme know if I missed anything I should tag.

However Marius had thought the day was going to go this wasn’t it. Breakfast had been fairly normal, including the couple of casualties when one of the crew was being annoying. The usual. It hadn’t even been weird when Brian had made an announcement that afternoon that they’d stumbled upon another ship. A raid was exactly what was needed to spice up the day. It had started to get weird when he’d gone to the bridge to check out the soon-to-be boarded craft.

“Are you going with?” Brian asked when he’d stepped up next to him.

“Of course. I’ve been getting a little too stir crazy and this will hit the spot.” Marius explained. “Jonny and Tim seemed interested as well.”

“Well be careful.” At Marius’ look, Brian rolls his eyes and tries again. “There’s something off about that ship.”

The ship in question appears to be drifting slowly past. It’s fairly small and banged up but nothing they hadn’t seen before. Or caused themselves before. It did look to be on its last legs and perfect for salvage for scrap.

“Whats wrong with it? Looks like the normal shitty wrecks we come across.” Marius asked from where they’re now leaned over Brian’s shoulder to get a better look. He feels Brain shrug beneath him.

“I’m not sure. It’s broadcasting a faint automated SOS signal saying the ships on emergency systems only but it looks like the ships radio system is broken or gone. It’s not actually sending or receiving any transmissions.” There’s an intent look on his face as he watches the strange craft out the window. “Add to that that the cabin almost looks buckled inward and the engines look melted? I’ve got a bad feeling about that ship.”

“Alright! Well, I’ll pass along your concern to the boarding party.” Marius says, clapping Brian on the shoulder and turning away. He can almost feel the eyeroll Brian does as he gets back to preparations.

“You’ve got fifteen minutes!” He shouts as Marius turns the corner out of sight.

Predictably Marius spends those fifteen minutes gathering weapons and ammo. When he arrives at their usual meeting place with a couple minutes to spare he is vaguely surprised to be the last to arrive.

“Brian says ship’s haunted.” He calls out, sauntering up to other three crewmembers who’d decided to join the fun.

“What?” Ivy asked, looking a little confused at the statement.

“Good. I’ve always wanted to shoot a ghost.” Tim said as he finished loading his gun with a click. Jonny laughed but didn’t disagree with Tim’s sentiment.

“Yeah, Something about an SOS but the radio is broken?” Marius explained. “The things got bad vibes I guess.”

“Curious. I will have to keep an eye out for any oddities on board.” Ivy said with a curt nod while ignoring the guys antics. The conversation was cut short as the docking rig shuddered to life.

“Lets have some fun shall we?” Jonny gave a sharp edged smirk before stalking towards the door with Tim in tow.

It didn’t take long for the Aurora to attach to the small ship and Jonny all but lunged forwards down the gangway when the system was in place. Inside the ship was dark and quiet, the air still. The only lights on board the ship seemed to be a dim light from what seemed to be the cargo bay and the bright shifting light leaking out the bottom of the door to the cockpit. Ivy announced her intentions to search the cargo bay first and set off down the hallway. Tim and Jonny dramatically discussed the merits of different blunt instruments when used to beat a person in what Marius assumed was some kind of psychological power play for anyone still aboard.

The light seeping under the door seemed odd. Marius could almost understand what Brian had been saying about the ship giving off a bad feeling. Taking a few steps towards the door, even looking in that direction was almost enough to give Marius a headache. Before he could reach the door, Jonny shouted behind him. The split second warning wasn’t enough to prevent Jonny from seizing the back of his coat and throwing him into Tim, apparently determined to be the first one through the door.

This would of course be when everything went to shit.

~~~

To say they were surprised would be an understatement. They hadn’t expected to find the cockpit looking like a bifrost rainbow bomb had gone off and they certainly hadn’t expected to find some sort of giant eldritch monster lurking in there either. Somehow Marius was even more shocked when said eldritch monster turned out to be Inspector Lyf.

The odds hadn’t been good for the inspector to have survived the prismatic apocalypse that consumed their entire star system. It hadn’t made sense to risk the outskirts of the Bifrost’s influence just to search for someone who had probably not managed to escape.

For their part Lyfrassir looks awful. They looked thinner than Marius remembered and much more of a disaster than their usual put together professionalism. Their hair was a disorganized mess half falling out of their usual braids and when they lifted their head from trembling hands he could see dark circles of exhaustion under slightly unfocused eyes. They stood there a moment just watching Marius, tears leaving faint iridescent tracks down their face.

“Inspector Lyf?” Is what he manages to get out while his brain tries to reconnect itself to his mouth.

Lyfrassir lets out a tired huff of a laugh, seemingly amused that they’re actually recognized. Not a second later and their exhaustion seems to catch up to them as they crumple to the floor.

“Well, that was certainly unexpected.” Ivy says from her position at the controls. She stares at Lyfrassir for a moment before going back to the ship's logs. “Are they still alive over there?”

This finally shakes Marius out of his stupor and he cautiously steps closer to Lyf’s fallen form. A quick check reveals no visible injuries, though confirms that the inspector is not at their best.

“Looks like they’re just knocked out. Can’t really blame them for that if I’m honest.” Marius gently shifts them, getting them laid out on the multi colored floor a little more comfortably. “Do you think they’re safe to bring aboard the Aurora or are they gonna turn back into that monster thing again?”

“Based on a quick scan through the security footage, there's only a sixteen percent chance that they’ll transform upon regaining consciousness.” She replies absently. Marius is interrupted from more questions when a groan sounds from the opposite side of the room.

“Well this is boring. Where’d that thing go?” Tim asks, standing up. He brushes himself off, ignoring the large hole in the front of his shirt, and looks around. “Hold on who's that.”

“This would be the lovely Inspector Lyfrassir Edda. The transport officer we told you about. Formerly the giant eldritch Bifrost creature we were just fighting.” Marius explained with probably a little more dramatic flair than necessary.

“Weren’t they supposed to be dead?” Tim wandered over, looking briefly down at them before absently patting his pockets and looking for his dropped gun.

“We’re as surprised as you are. Now come on, let's get them on board. Jonny will pick himself back up in his own time, meanwhile I’m sure Raph would love to get a look at them and this Bifrost weirdness.” Ivy said with a clap before motioning for Marius to pick up Lyf and ushering them all back onto the Aurora.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The narrative continues as the Aurora gains a new passenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello its Thursday. I was caught up in Science and nearly forgot that I wanted to update today! But here it is! 
> 
> I've arbitrarily decided to keep each chapter around 1000 words. Mostly for vague pacing purposes and that length fit with how long different pieces ended up. Some will be longer depending on how much I wanted to fit in a chapter etc.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Raphaella had him take Lyfrassir to what she called ‘observation’. Really it was a cell in the brig she’d rigged cameras in at some point, but Marius wasn’t going to argue. The cell did have a random assortment of medical and lab equipment in it though, so he could at least give the inspector a more thorough look over. Once he’d gotten them settled it didn’t look like there was anything glaringly wrong. Inspector Lyf looked exhausted and pale with deep bags like bruises under their eyes. Nothing really unexpected, but the dark colors seemed to almost shimmer in the light. The slightest hint of rainbow like an oil slick when the light was right. Marius noticed almost the same effect where their veins were visible under thin skin.

“Hey Raph,” He looked to her where she’d been standing like a statue at the end of the bed taking notes. She blinked a couple times before looking up at him expectantly. “You were thinking about taking blood samples right?”

“Oh! Yes, I was just getting some preliminary observations down.” She went quickly to a cabinet right outside the door. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any pre-Bifrost event samples from the inspector to compare them to, but I might still be able to make some inferences.”

“Do you have the supplies for an IV down here? Whatever happened seems like it took a lot out of them.” He followed Raphaella after a moment. The cabinet was stuffed with a variety of random looking objects and he was a little glad he only knew what about half of them were for. When he got close enough she stuffed a IV bag of nutrient fluids and the tubing into his arms and continued picking through things. 

After a moment she made a triumphant noise and pulled out a handful of empty blood vials along with an assortment of syringes and needles. Lyfrassir hadn’t moved when they returned nor did they as Marius drew blood and got the IV set up. Raphaella had gone back to her notes, making a specific one when the blood showed the same iridescent oil slick sheen. Marius continued to fiddle and fidget with things, smoothing down blankets and triple checking the IV. 

Raphaella put a gentle hand on his arm. “There’s not much more to do besides wait till they wake up. I’m sure if we ask nicely Aurora will let us know if anything changes.” She starts pulling them out of the cell, shutting the door behind them. “You should go see what supplies you’ve got upstairs and see if we have any suitable food. I was under the impression from Ivy that there wasn’t anything left on their ship so they’ll be starving.” She paused dragging him along the hallway and smiled. “Look, I care about Lyfrassir as well, but all we can do now is wait.”

“I hate when you’re right.” Marius shoots a glare at her but she just smiles wider and he rolls his eyes. “I guess I could see if Ivy picked up any medical literature while we were on Midgard.”

“That’s the spirit! Now come on, I’ve got to collect samples from the ship and I refuse to let you just sit down here and pine.” This time she starts all but pushing them back upstairs.

~~~

Marius is halfway through looking over their food supplies before he wonders where Jonny had gotten around too. It isn’t long after that that the man in question appears behind him and proceeds to shoot him in the back without much fanfare. He’s still around when Marius gets back up, apparently waiting for him. 

Once he sees he’s got their attention he glares. “That was for leaving me in a Bifrost infested ship.”

“Well I’m sorry. I was a little too busy to sweep up all your bits.” He says sneering before checking that there isn’t too much blood in with all the packaging.

Jonny scoffs behind him. “Yes, Raph mentioned something about you catching the beastie. That’s a topic for later though.” There’s a set of clicks as he presumably checks his ammo. “Have you seen Tim around? He’s being uncharacteristically sneaky.”

This time it’s Marius’ turn to scoff. “Not since earlier. Like I said. Bit busy.”

“Useless.” Jonny says with a sigh before walking off, leaving Marius to the supplies.

Somehow Tim manages to avoid Jonny until dinner. Upon his appearance in the mess Jonny immediately executes him with the same annoyed expression on his face. Once he hears Jonny’s reasoning he makes the point that Jonny had been lucky Raphaella had wanted samples. Otherwise if they’d known he was going to be a prat about it they would have jettisoned the ship with him on it if only for some quiet.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Marius got a message from Ivy.

‘ _ Our guest is awake. _ ’ The message read, and he nearly tripped in his rush to get up. He made a pit stop in the kitchen to grab some water before heading towards ‘observation’. As soon as he’d made it downstairs, Raphaella appeared and pulled him into a different room. A couple tables and screens had been set up, some showing various sensor readings while others just showed the room down the hall.

“How long have they been up?” Marius asked looking at Lyfrassir on the screens. They had sat up, curled with their knees brought up and were currently burying their face in them and one arm. The other arm had been handcuffed to a rail on the side of the bed at some point.

“Not long. Tim thought he was funny last night with the handcuff, but interestingly upon regaining consciousness the Inspector bent the railing they’re cuffed to. The strength is seemingly a new development as they looked just as surprised about the incident.” Ivy said, nose buried in a book. “I haven’t found anything that points to Midgardians having greater strength than expected so there is a 96% chance this is an effect from the Bifrost.”

“We haven’t spoken to them yet.” Raphaella picked up. She inspected the water he had brought down and handed him a couple random snacks. “You get to go check on them and ask what they remember.”

“What?” Marius was a little taken aback at the suggestion. “No, I’m pretty sure I’d be the last person they’d want to see. They hate me. I think they were about one interview away from attempting to beat me to death with my own violin while we were in prison. They nearly bit my head off yesterday! One of you should go in there.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “Exactly, Marius. They  _ nearly _ bit your head off. You saw what happened to Jonny and Tim. If they didn’t like you, you would have ended up the same.” She makes a shooing motion with her book at him. “Now go. They’ve been alone on that tiny ship this whole time. Don’t make them wait longer.”

Marius gives a petulant whine as Raphaella proceeds to shove him out the door. She gives them an expectant look and then shuts the door in his face. He lets his face thunk against the door for a moment, steeling himself, before he sighs and makes his way down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not particularly plot related thoughts:  
> I'm aware of the cannon ship layout information but I couldn't be bothered to fix what I'd written. Also, I think it'd be in character for the gang to just have a 'collection' of handcuffs that they've kept from being arrested. I haven't decided if there just isn't a single key on the ship or if there is a completely separate unlabeled collection of keys and which would be funnier lol


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the guest awake, a slightly more coherent perspective of the Bifrost is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally they speak!  
> Remember when I said I'm planning to keep chapters around 1k words? Well this one is about 1700, but that's the length that fit what I wanted to cover in the chapter and I wasn't going to split it up to fit a word count. This is also another of my fav scenes/chapters I've done so far so that's also a factor.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Marius tries to kick the door open gently. With his hands full of food and water it makes the most sense, but the door still slams against the wall louder than intended.

“Good Morning, Inspector Lyf!” He opts for the familiar greeting though it doesn’t have the same effect with Lyfrassir staring at them with wide eyes, apparently startled by the door bursting open.

After a moment they seem to calm down. “Von Raum.” The response is expected, but it’s lost its usual annoyance. It comes out rough and quiet, like they’re not really sure of it, but Marius smiles back nonetheless. “Where are we?”

“This is the starship Aurora, home to the Mechanisms. An immortal band of space pirates, including yours truly.” Setting the supplies down on the bed, he gives an over-the-top bow and a wink. This gets a small laugh out of Lyfrassir so Marius considers it a win. He half leans against the opposite side of the hospital bed from them and settles a bit more when they don’t seem to mind.

Lyf looks up with a tearful expression, tugging absently against the handcuff but not with the apparent strength of before. “Everything is... fuzzy, but I- your crewmates-”

“They’re fine.” Marius cuts them off. “Maybe a little annoyed but no real hard feelings. Immortal remember.”

It seems to take a second for the pieces to connect in their head. “Right. Certainly not the strangest thing to happen...” They look back down at their hands, studying the water bottle they had grabbed at some point but making no move to actually open the thing. The two lapse into silence for a moment.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Marius starts. He pauses a moment until Lyf looks up with a question on his face. “And you don’t really have to answer if you don’t want to, but what do you remember? Like, do you remember how you got all...?” He can’t really come up with a delicate way to put it but they seem to understand him anyway.

Lyf’s expression closes off but they answer. “It’s all... blurry. After the first couple of weeks it all starts to bleed together. I didn’t really notice it all happening...” They’re back to absently keeping tension on the handcuff and they stare into space as they try and put everything into words. “It was slow at first. Just quiet whispers and Odin’s eyes staring at me. I couldn’t tell you how long it took before there was also the singing and the colors.

They give out a bitter laugh. “I tore out as much of the radio system as I could find. I was in denial that it would do something to stop the noise. After that it was just the pacing and desperately trying to not hear the Bifrost calling.” There are tears in their eyes now, but they don’t seem to notice. “Tearing out the radio might have been my last semi-coherent thought for a while. After that it’s just... the colors and the songs and the static. I- I don’t know how long I was... Trapped? Possessed? Whatever it was I was... lost in it. I couldn’t even think properly. The next solid thing I remember is recognizing you.”

They’re focused back on him now with the softest look he’s ever seen on them, and Marius has to valiantly try to not show on his face how that last part made any functioning part of his brain screech to a halt as they continue. “You showing up, and Alexandria, I guess it jarred me enough that I could... I don’t know, shake off whatever influence the Bifrost had on me. At least enough that I’m not some mindless eldritch monster. I don’t think it would have worked if it hadn’t been you...”

“Well, I’m glad I could help.” This comes out much smoother than Marius thinks it should have. Judging from the tiny smile he gets from Lyf, he had successfully smothered his internal gay panic before it could make it out of his mouth. It takes a second for Marius to collect his thoughts enough to not make a fool of himself but then there’s a detail that starts to stick out at him. “So, you said that everything was running together. Do you know what the date is?”

“No. I don’t know if the clocks were broken already or if they got broken later. After only seeing errors a couple of times I stopped checking.” The smile is gone and they look a little concerned at what Marius is implying. “Why? How- How long has it been?”

“Lyf...” He tries to be gentle as his heart sinks. “It’s been about a year since everything happened with the Bifrost.”

Marius jumps at the loud bang as the rail Lyfrassir had been handcuffed to snaps under the tension they’d put on it. Lyf is properly crying now, not noticing the recoil.

They stare at him in silent disbelief, tears leaving more of the faintly iridescent tracks down their face. After a moment they let out a sob. “You’re telling me... I lost- I lost a  _ year _ ? I spent the better part of  _ a year _ as some mindless Bifrost thing?”

As Lyf starts curling into themselves Marius decides the risk is worth it and shifts closer, pulling them into a hug. He knows it was the right choice when Lyf loosens up after the initial surprise. They clutch tightly at the front of his shirt and press against his chest, shaking ever so slightly. The two sit in silence. After a while Lyf stops trembling but doesn’t let go of him.

“A year...” They say quietly, not moving their face from where it’s buried in his chest. They tighten their grip slightly and their voice is quiet and rough. “As long as it feels I don’t- If it was any longer... I-I don’t think I could have... found my way back like I did...” 

“I’ll help you.” Marius keeps his voice low to not startle them. “If it starts happening again, I’ll help as much as I can.” For a moment they both fall back into silence. Marius can tell Lyf wants to say something and is perfectly comfortable letting them work their way to it.

“Well this is all rather touching, but I had been hoping for something closer to a moonbeast than a trauma victim.” They both flinch as Jonny’s suddenly loud voice breaks the quiet. If he wasn’t still hugging Lyf, Marius would have shot the man. As it is he gives him a glare promising to do just that later, but Jonny just rolls his eyes unimpressed. “So I take it we won’t be needing to shove a giant monstrosity out of the cargo bay back to wherever it spawned from then?”

This gets Lyf’s full attention. “No! No, please I- I can’t do that again. I can’t.” Marius can feel them shaking again. They’re staring at Jonny, eyes red from crying and near panicked at the idea that they’d be left drifting in the void. Left at the Bifrost’s nonexistent mercy. 

Jonny stares back at Lyf, the unimpressed expression not moving. It takes longer for him to respond than Marius expects. There’s something that he can’t quite read off Jonny’s face. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time a person had begged him not to do something so Marius isn’t sure what is different about this time. Whatever it is it's gone before he can get very far deciphering it, as this time Jonny sounds inconvenienced as he sighs.

“Toy Soldier it is then.” And then the man spins on his heel and stalks away without another word.

“Well that was weird.” Marius said after a moment. Lyf lets out a laugh and sags against them again. “Alright, let’s get you up to the actual med bay. As the ship’s doctor I say you need a proper meal and a better place to get some actual rest.”

Lyf sent them a skeptical look but didn’t resist as Marius pulled them to their feet. “I don’t believe you’re actually a doctor.” They held onto his arm for a moment before seeming steady enough on their own that Marius didn’t feel too worried about them following without assistance.

“Good thing I don’t need you to believe me or not because I’m making you listen to me anyway. Now come on, everything is upstairs.” He heads towards the door but pauses when Lyfrassir doesn’t immediately follow. He looks back to find them studying the handcuff where it's hanging off their wrist.

“Should I be worried about the rest of the crew?” They kind of shake the handcuff to show what they mean. “I’m not a prisoner?”

“Nah, you’ll be fine. That was Tim thinking he’s funny and being a prick.” Marius shrugs. “Honestly, the one I would have been most worried about was Jonny. He’s the most ‘shoot first, ask questions never’ of the crew and it went fine! The rest will be easy.”

“If you say so.” Lyf doesn’t sound like they believe him but they do walk over.

“And hey, considering you haven’t eaten anything for the better part of a year there’s a good chance you can’t really die anymore so it’ll probably be fine.” He smiles at them, only realizing as the words make their way out of his mouth that this might be a sensitive topic.

He gets a blank stare from Lyf for a moment. “I refuse to think about that right now.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Marius links their arms this time and starts pulling Lyf along. “Maybe I can help distract you by showing you my collection of instruments.”

He laughs when they give him an unimpressed look to rival Jonny’s. “Don’t make me regret not shredding you. Especially since apparently you’d be fine.”

Marius doesn’t stop dragging them along at the threat, just winks and keeps going.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continued investigation into the effects of the Bifrost on a humanoid subject.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who was busy with Science and blanked about my usual Thursday update and had to be reminded by my 'beta'. Anyway here's a slightly late chapter :)

It’s apparent that even if Lyf doesn’t believe he’s a doctor they’ve decided to humor him. They don’t complain beyond some vague grumbles and mostly watch him bustle around seemingly amused. Marius can’t say that Lyf isn’t just humoring him because he hasn’t attempted to play anything on the violin yet, but that can always be tested later.

The check-up is only somewhat helpful. Midgardian biology isn’t too far from his own, thankfully, so he has a general idea of what a healthy baseline might be and Lyfrassir has a general idea as well. Despite this uncertainty its not hard to tell what is an effect from the Bifrost. Marius mentions the lingering iridescent sheen from their tears before handing them a damp cloth to help clean them up, and explains the matching look in the blood sample Raphaella had taken to examine. At this point Lyf seems resigned to any physical manifestations of the Bifrost left on them and sparkly blood and tears are the least of it that they find. With a couple odd questions and mildly awkward staring they discover that Lyf’s eyes shift color, slowly mutating from one to the next. 

The mark that Lyf is most concerned about is the one everyone probably should have noticed first. While the front of Lyf’s shirt is intact, if a bit worn, the back is completely shredded. The tatters that make up what used to be the back of their shirt only partially obscure the faint scar-like lines that trace up and down their back. They give off a faint rainbow glow, shifting and moving slowly like northern lights. Marius hands them a spare blanket when Lyf starts to look uncomfortable now that the lack of a back to their shirt has been brought to their attention. If it had taken this long to notice it it likely wasn’t anything exceedingly dangerous. Lyf mutters a distracted thanks and immediately wraps the blanket around themselves and half sinks into it.

Deciding that that will be the end of that, Marius goes about the med bay doing some general futzing and tidying. Halfway through him attempting to decide the best way to convince Lyf to eat a proper meal and accept one of his shirts in place of the remains of theirs, the door chimes and slides open to admit Raphaella and Ivy. Lyf jumps a bit as the noise breaks whatever train of thought they’d been on, and then relaxes slightly as he recognizes them.

“Inspector! It’s so good to see you doing better.” Raphaella immediately pulls Lyfrassir into a hug, the both of them obscured for a moment as her wings wrap around them.

Raph releases them and Ivy gives them a nod but doesn’t make a move towards them. “I’m also glad to see that you’re well. It was rather unexpected to find you as we did.”

“Not really an inspector anymore, but it’s nice to see you as well.” They shift a little, uncomfortable with the sudden increase in attention. “It’s been a while... Since, I’ve seen anyone.”

“Well you’re certainly going to be seeing us more often! And like you said,” Raph was looking a little more mischievous now, the opposite of Lyf’s slowly more suspicious expression. “You’re not an inspector anymore. So we can have more fun.”

“I decline to commit to anything.” They said deadpan and it was almost like they were back in prison.

“Before all that I believe its a good idea to get Lyfrassir settled.” Ivy, ever one of the more practical ones of the crew. “How long has it been since you've last eaten?”

“I’m... Not particularly sure?” They looked a little puzzled as they tried to remember. “I don’t actually remember how much I’d had or when it ran out. I was rather... distracted...”

“How about we give you a quick tour of the common areas and whip up something for you.” Ivy turned and smiled at Marius, which immediately set off warning bells. “Meanwhile, we found about 78% of your personal effects from your ship are covered with Bifrost goop. I’m sure Marius has some clothes he could lend you? Just until Raphaella can determine how to clean it.”

Marius tried very hard to be subtle in glaring at Ivy, but he’s not sure he succeeds judging by the suspicious look Lyf is giving them all. “I’m sure I’ve got a few things. They might not fit as well, but better than trying to convince Jonny to lend you a change of clothes.” 

“Lovely!” Raph clapped once, quickly cutting off anything Lyf had been about to stay. She wasted no time in lightly bullying Lyf up and out the door of the med bay, blanket included. Today seems to be the day that they humor everyone because they didn’t put up any resistance, just rolled their eyes at her antics and allowed her to push them down the hallway.

“I hate you both.” Marius actually glares at Ivy when she doesn’t follow right behind Raphaella.

“No you don’t!” She was still smirking at him. “Now off you go, 85% of the 78% of their items were their clothing and honestly we’ll have to get them some new things anyway at our next stop because some of it isn’t salvageable even if Raph gets it clean.” She doesn’t wait for another snarky response and proceeds to corral him out the door much the way Raphaella had with Lyf. She doesn’t do more than shove him in the direction of his room and head off on her own to follow the others.

Marius refuses to rush. He refuses to prove whatever point the girls are trying to make. That being said it wasn’t as if he hadn’t already planned to lend Lyf some clothes. He tries to find things that might be at least closer to their size, but also tries and finds some sleep clothes since pyjamas are supposed to be big anyway. After grabbing an outfit or two that is at least attempting to be Lyf’s size, he heads off to where he assumes the girls went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My opinion on the whole 'Marius isn't actually a doctor' thing is that he might not be, but also he's had however many years to go and like look up 'how to be a medic' stuff? If he could repair a mech and figure out how to pilot that shit, he has the brain-cells to read a medical textbook or look shit up on space-youtube and be a passable medic.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The much less scientific discovery of Bifrost effects and crew shenanigans.

Marius walks into the common area to find both Tim and Raphaella watching something on the couch. Raphaella is furiously scribbling notes on her arm for lack of notepad and Tim just seems confused if vaguely betrayed. Stepping around the couch to stand next to them he finds Lyf, slumped over sideways and fast asleep. At first this doesn’t seem particularly worthy of his crewmates reactions and then he notices. The octokittens. For some reason a small gang of them had decided that Lyfrassir would make a lovely pillow. While a few seemed to be content simply being next to, or in, Lyf’s lap, a couple had wormed their way under Lyf’s blanket. One had somehow managed to squeeze its way into being wrapped in Lyf’s arms and seemed rather pleased with itself.

“Should we wake them up?” Marius was careful to keep his voice down. In case the little monsters got annoyed.

“We found them in one of the cabinets in the kitchen.” Raph explained, not looking up from her ‘notes’. “Ivy shooed them out but we forgot that we’d left Lyfrassir out here. We didn’t hear anything so it took a moment to remember and then I rushed out here to find them like this.”

“The little buggers didn’t even try to bite them? Not even a nibble?” Tim kept his voice low as well. “That’s not fair.”

Raphaella paused in her notetaking to study Lyf. “Could it be because of the Bifrost? That they read more eldritch to the octokitten’s senses??”

“That makes too much sense.” Tim said, apparently having shifted from betrayal to suspicion. “I’ve been feeding these bastards for so long and they still try to bite my fingers off.”

“I mean, what would be another reason?” Marius was still a little concerned regarding the creatures propensity to use their unnecessarily sharp teeth.

The three of them just stood there for a few minutes, just watching the octokittens continue to be perfectly content and making their weird purring gurgling noise as they just sat with Lyf. As they stood there they noticed the blanket was shifting as something behind Lyfrassir moved. At first they had assumed it was one of the octokittens that had wormed its way back there, until another non-octokitten tentacle appeared from under Lyf’s arm to curl around the kitten in their arms.

Tim and Raph both looked at each other. “They both have tentacles.” They say in unison as if this fact actually explained anything.

“There is a 67% chance that that is the actual reason for the octokittens behavior.” Ivy stood in the doorway to the kitchen, apparently unimpressed with everyone's antics. “Now if you could wake them, I attempted a recipe I found in Yggdrasil and would like their opinion.”

Raphaella stepped up to do just that, saying their name and gently prodding Lyf until they jerked upright. The octokitten they were holding made a very strange squeaky noise at the sudden change of position but didn’t attempt escape.

Lyf looked down at it with confusion. “What is this and why am I holding it?”

“It’s an octokitten, there's an infestation of them on the ship.” Tim said as he vaguely gestured with one hand. “They seem to like you, but I'd still be careful of their teeth. Gunpowder Tim by the way. Master of Arms, if ya ever need to borrow a gun I’ve got... an amount.”

“Right... A pleasure.” They set about gently moving the various octokittens so that they could stand. Marius could tell when they noticed the tentacles that had appeared. Lyf froze when he saw one uncurl itself from around an octokitten as they shifted it. They took a deep breath and decided to ignore the extra appendages. This was apparently the right move because as the last couple octokittens were moved or scuttled off of their own accord, the extra limbs vanished as quickly as they appeared. Raphaella was back to scribbling more notes on her arm but Lyfrassir looked a bit relieved.

The rest of the day passed without being too out of the ordinary, beyond being a test of Marius’ mental fortitude when Lyfrassir pulled on one of his shirts overtop their shredded one. Part way through Lyf and Ivy discussing Midgardian dishes the Toy Soldier came in and presented each of those present with a small very abstract wood carving saying it was currently winning it’s game of hide and seek with Jonny. Raphaella and Tim gave it a few suggestions for other places it could hide around the ship and it was off to continue its search for other crew members besides the first mate.

“Is it always like this?” Lyf asked no one in particular and sighed when they got a general ‘Yes’.

“I feel like there's usually a little more shooting actually.” Tim said as he leaned his chair back, absently cleaning his gun. “But the day is still young so who knows.”

Time passed on the ship much in the way it usually does: steadily and with gunfire. Lyfrassir eventually meeting the rest of the crew and getting more comfortable around everyone. The octokittens still tended to stick to them if one happened to be around, leading to a very entertaining event in which Tim lost a good chunk of his hand to one when he tried to bribe it away from a reading Lyf. 

The crew had gotten more use to them being around as well. Though for a little while a few had been antsy whenever lethal weapons were in use and Lyf was around. No one had tried to confirm if Lyf could actually die and there wasn't particularly a safe way to test it.

That was until a particularly heated crew dinner and they had been caught in the crossfire. Everyone had froze when Lyf had stumbled, manifesting a couple tentacles and limbs to stabilize themselves while a few were about halfway to ripping Jonny’s gun away from him, arm and all. They had looked down at their chest where they’d been hit, pulling a blood covered hand away from the wound.

“I think being shot in the chest is supposed to hurt more than this.” They sounded more confused than in pain. As they watched the bullet wound glowed Bifrost colors and slowly stopped bleeding. They put a hand to their neck, checking their own pulse and just looked more confused. “Uhm... It seems like my heart stopped as well but... I don’t... I don’t feel particularly bad?”

Most of the crew relaxed a bit now that it was confirmed that they’re guest wasn’t about to keel over and went back to dinner, but Raphaella, Brian, and Marius all pulled Lyf aside. Marius simply kept a grip on their wrist, keeping an eye out for a pulse Raph also confirmed wasn’t there when she’d put her head against their back to try and listen. She and Brian both were studying the glowing wound when it slowly pushed the bullet out and sealed over like nothing happened. 

Lyf made a strange face and coughed. “Oh I don’t like that. I could feel my heart starting back up.” And sure enough Marius could feel their pulse, steady as ever under his fingers.

Everyone tended to be a bit more relaxed about weapon safety with it confirmed that Lyf would likely survive. They were still fairly adamant that they would prefer not to be shot thank you, but there were a couple close calls. All in all things had settled into what could be considered normal on a ship full of chaotic and violent space pirates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: When planning this fic I had a preliminary list of Bifrost related powers/things for Lyf to have and the fact that the octokittens like them for 'same hat tentacle reasons' was one of the first things on there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems coping with the rainbow end of your home isn't as easy as you'd think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the end of the last chapter seemed very ending-ish, surprise there's more to come. :)

Marius had thought Lyf had been doing remarkably well all things considered. The manifesting of extra appendages hadn’t stopped and they seemed to have gotten used to them. Raphaella had managed to clean some of their clothes but had taken her sweet time doing so and declared most of it not salvageable. Marius was mostly convinced she was doing it on purpose.

He had seen them that morning at breakfast and they’d seemed a tad tense but again, all things considered. They’d left without participating much to the banter and Marius had figured that they wanted some time alone and hadn’t bothered trying to follow.

“Are you aware of Edda’s current activities?” Nastya said when she appeared right behind him. Marius jumped, nearly dropping the book they’d been attempting to put away in the med bay.

“I haven’t seen them since this morning.” He turned around and noticed she looked particularly more annoyed than usual. “Why?”

She huffed, apparently unsurprised and unenthused with his answer. “Come along.” She spun on her heel and stalked off down the hallway.

“So... What did Lyf do? Or what are they doing?” After catching up to Nastya’s determined pace through the corridors, he noticed another distinctly not usual thing. Nastya had her gun with her.

“Aurora is quite displeased with Edda’s current actions and requested that I stop them since she cannot.” Nastya does slow her quick pace as she explains. “I determined that you would be the best option to assist with this matter.”

That explained the annoyance and the gun fairly neatly. Marius kept up with her for a few moments before speaking up again. “That doesn’t explain what they’re doing... Where even are they?”

Finally Nastya slows her pace and Marius notices her start to keep a particular eye on the floor as they walk. He follows her gaze and almost freezes when he sees what she’d been looking for. A shoe print on the metal panels, almost as if made by someone dripping wet if not for the ever shifting rainbow color of it. The tracks start out sparse with only one chromatic print every handful of paces. As the two of them keep following them down the corridor they grow more frequent until it seems every step left a mark.

“Aurora corralled them into a junk storage room.” Nastya explains when the tracks abruptly seem to stop outside a door but don’t particularly seem to enter. She steps forwards towards the door and opens it without issue.

Marius had been expecting colorful Bifrost bullshit so it’s how the door opens that trips him up for a moment. Most doors on the ship slide open in some manner or other. This door had simply swung open on hinges that don’t seem to exist.

The mild strangeness is only distracting until a loud crunching noise comes from in the room. For a split second Marius is worried Nastya had been shredded much like Jonny, but she’s still standing next to him. She makes no move to actually enter the storage room.

Or what had been the storage room. The walls and floor were covered in gold and swirling rainbows, the ceiling looked dark and shimmering like oil yet roiled like storm clouds. Whatever had been stored in this room was scattered along the floor. Shelves and boxes and crates were destroyed and thrown across a room that was too big to really fit in this area of the ship.

In the center of the destruction stood Lyf. A thankfully, still mostly human Lyf. As Marius watched their extra hands and tentacles threw the remains of a destroyed crate with no particular aim. Lyf was shouting, paying no attention to the violent thrashing limbs around them. Marius manages to catch a look at their face. They look furious but it's offset by the paint-like rainbow that's filled their eyes and spilled over to fall like tears down their face.

“You couldn’t just consume me along with everyone else!! NO! That’s too easy!!  _ Much _ more entertaining to just let them think they  _ escaped _ until it's entertaining to prove otherwise!! You ABSOLUTE PIECE OF-” They dissolve into wordless anger and another piece of metal shelving is twisted and wrenched apart.

“LYF!” Marius shouts, hesitant to step into the room. The floor ripples from his footstep but seems stable so he takes a few paces forwards. He doesn’t want to risk getting caught in the destruction surrounding Lyfrassir.

He’s about to call out again when a loud bang cuts him off. Marius spins around to see Nastya in the doorway, gun raised. He looks back at Lyf to see them frozen, body half turned towards them as if caught halfway through turning around. Their head is faced the opposite direction, like someone had pushed it away. The only thing to differentiate them from a statue is the continued rise and fall of their chest.

For a moment nothing happens, and then Marius feels distinctly nauseous as the room looks like it starts to shift. He can feel the floor remain steady beneath him but the gold and prismatic splatters almost seem to be pulled towards Lyf. The effects of the Bifrost snap back like a stretch coating relinquishing its hold and vanish into thin air before they seem to get within arms reach.

As the room shrinks so does Lyf, the extra limbs disappearing not unlike the first time Marius had seen it happen. While some simply vanish, distinctly more are pulled back into them, somehow fitting within the volume of space Lyf usually takes up and leaving no trace beyond the shredded back of their shirt and the ever shifting rainbow scars.

The change is both fast and not quite quick enough, but it feels abrupt that Marius finds himself in a seemingly normal destroyed storage room standing just out of Lyfrassir’s reach.

“Well. That worked much better than expected.” Natsya says, breaking the silence and holstering her gun. “I will leave you to deal with them. Do not. Let it happen again.”

Marius turns around to find her glaring at them. “Wha- How is that my job?”

“You are the one that likes to psychoanalyse people, are you not?” She doesn’t bother to wait for a response before she starts to leave. “I will be back to fix the door later. I expect to not find you here when I return.”

With that Marius is left with a still unresponsive Lyfrassir. He sighs and turns back to Lyf. They couldn’t die but it was still fairly new territory so no one quite knew what to expect.

“Lyf?” He goes to gently shake their shoulder but they don’t move an inch. A little confused he goes to push hard on their shoulder. It's like trying to push a wall and again they don’t move. “Well, okay then.”

Deciding that trying to move them wasn’t an option, Marius steps around to get a view of their face. Their once furious expression had smoothed out to blankness but the colorful tear tracks remained and made them look forlorn. Their eyes were still taken over by swirling colors but that was something to deal with once Marius could get a response out of them. 

The bullet hole in their temple seemed to be healing fine if the softly pulsing colorful glow was any indication. It wasn’t unlike the first time Lyf had been shot and they had mentioned how they had thought their heart had simply stopped beating for the time it took for it to heal. As it was Marius could only wait for them to wake back up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clean up of a mild eldritch tantrum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very late on the update and even worse news that my backlog has caught up to the amount of writing I've been getting done. As a result updates will be more sporadic as I get chapters done etc.
> 
> On a more fun side! This chapter is also the longest as of right now! So enjoy!

After a few minutes of quietly waiting and glancing at the open doorway to check for Nastya, Marius is interrupted in trying to figure out how the door had been removed from the doorframe and propped against the wall by the sound of a deep breath and a light tink as a bullet fell to the floor. Marius turns back to Lyfrassir to find them lifting unsure hands to wipe at the tear tracks on their face. They take another deep breath but this one shakes as it makes its way back out.

“Hey...” Marius says quietly, though Lyf still startles. He steps forward and slowly grabs their hand, broadcasting his movements in case they decide they’d rather not. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” 

They hesitate for a moment but follow willingly, not saying a word as Marius leads them back out into the hallway. The walk back to Lyf’s room is quiet, for the first part of it Lyf just watches him lead looking vaguely shell-shocked, but after a few minutes they just look unfocused as Marius pulls them along.

Marius doesn’t hesitate to open the door to their room and lead Lyf inside. When he sits them on their bed, they stare down at their hands that are smeared with colors to match their face. He turns and heads into the bathroom to try and find something to help with that. When he returns, damp towel in hand, Lyf is looking at them.

“You’re not going to ask?” Lyf watches as Marius pulls the chair from the desk around to sit across from them before taking one rainbow stained hand.

“It seemed like you were working through some things.” He doesn’t look up from where he's trying to gently but firmly scrub off the colorful stains. “While I would typically advocate for talking about feelings, I can’t say that destroying things isn’t the typical way people on this ship vent. So I can’t fault you for it.” Lyf hums at that and they lapse again into silence.

It takes longer than Marius expects to clean off Lyf’s hands, after the few minutes it takes to get one clean he sets it back in Lyfrassir’s lap and starts on the other.

“You aren’t worried? About me?” Lyf breaks the silence again and this time Marius pauses. He looks up, blinking when he finds Lyf’s face closer than he expected. Unlike he had expected, Lyf is watching his face, studying it for his reaction. They look more tired now than anything underneath the avant-garde smears of color.

“Like you being dangerous?” He raises an eyebrow and continues at their nod. “Not particularly. I mean, it’s not like I’d actually die. No one on the ship is scared of you if that’s what you’re worried about. Hell, even the octokittens like you and the only other person whose even close to managing that is Tim.” Lyf purses their lips and doesn’t look convinced so Marius keeps going. “And I mean... You’re strong enough to rip a man apart with your bare hands or tentacles and that’s kinda hot.”

Lyf is glaring unimpressed at him now, so he just grins back for a moment before returning back to his cleaning efforts. After a second he hears them sigh, sounding resigned.

“You had to shoot me to get me to stop... I don’t want that to keep happening.” Their voice is little more than a whisper this time but Marius still hears it with how close they are.

“In all fairness I was trying to get your attention first. The Aurora didn’t like the Bifrost-y bits of everything and Nastya is kinda protective, so she went the gun route.” Again Marius didn’t look up, deciding it was easier to keep working on their hands than see their sad expression. “So what things get rainbowy when you get mad? Ashes sets things on fire for fun, let alone when they get upset. You’re allowed to cope however you like. Give Brian a heads up and he’s usually pretty good at finding planets to go destroy things on until you feel better. Goodness knows its happened before.” He shakes his head, remembering the sort of antics the crew gets up to. 

It takes another moment and then Lyf’s other hand is rainbow free as well, so he sets it back in their lap alongside the other. He takes a moment to refold the towel so there’s mostly clean spots showing and sets that in their hands as well.

“There! Um, there's still some on your face but I figured you’d want...” Marius trails off as he looks back up at Lyf again. They look sad like he’d thought, but that also looked distracted. “Do you want to talk about it?” He doesn’t attempt to take one of Lyfs hands again from where they’re now twisting themselves into the towel, but he makes a point of pressing his knees against theirs and waits.

After a few moments of Lyf resolutely not looking at him they speak. “I’m the last one left... A whole star system gone...” Their voice is quiet and rough, choked from sobs they’re desperately keeping down. “And for some reason the Bifrost has decided to toy with me instead of just destroying me along with all the rest.” Their head down they bring the towel wrung in their hands to their face, more to hide it then anything else. “Everyone is dead or worse and I’m the only one left but even then the Bifrost always seems one wrong step from dragging me down.”

For a moment Marius is frozen as he processes what Lyfrassir said and his heart breaks for how they must feel. Considering his last attempt to hug Lyf had gone over well he figures it wouldn’t hurt now either. He moves slowly again as he pulls the chair closer so he isn’t pulling Lyf too far and wraps his arms around their shoulders. Lyf leans into them but doesn’t say a word.

“For what its worth, I’m glad you’re here. I can speak to the fact that most of the crew enjoy you being on board, and those that won’t admit it will come around.” Marius says barely above a whisper into Lyf’s hair. “I missed you a lot after we left Midgard, especially since I didn’t think you’d made it out.” Lyf doesn’t make any indication that they’re listening but he continues anyway. “It was a surprise when we found you but not an unwelcome one. I’m glad you’re okay for some definition of the word.”

After a few more quiet minutes they stop shaking and go to sit up. Marius lets them go easily but doesn’t move back. They look just as tired if not more than before, but they’ve lost some of the tension in their frame. Marius drops his gaze, and starts to shift back, stuttering half formed excused about how he will leave Lyf to finish cleaning up.

Lyf lightly grabs one of his hands before he gets very far and pressed the towel back into it. “Can you... If it's not too much trouble do you mind doing the rest?” They’re staring at him when he looks back a little surprised, looking self conscious about the request. “I don’t want to see it.”

“Yup. Yeah, I don’t- It’s no trouble.” He accepts the towel back and settles into his chair again.

Lyf doesn’t move when he carefully cups one side of their head to help keep them steady. Marius works quietly, being slightly more gentle than he had been on their hands for the trade off of it going slower. At some point Lyf’s eyes had slipped closed, but they go along with the soft nudges to give him a better angle on the other side of their face without complaint. Marius isn’t quite sure how long it takes but he’s almost convinced that he doesn’t breathe during the entire process.

But soon enough he’s done. “There you are.” He says, as he gets the last bit of color off and brings the towel away. Lyf opens their eyes and Marius is suddenly very aware of how close they are and how he has yet to move his hand from where it's gotten lightly tangled in their hair. Lyf gives them a small, soft smile and Marius abruptly needs to leave or he will combust and that would be rather inconvenient. 

“Right. You should... You should get some rest.” He says as he drops his hand and slides his chair back. “I’ll uh, I’ll clean this for you... Bring it back later.” He gestures with the now thoroughly rainbow stained towel and stands. Lyf just nods and watches as Marius tries not to look like he’s fleeing. 

He’s halfway out the door before they speak. “Marius...” They call out quietly. If he hadn’t already been convinced his heart was attempting escape that would certainly do it. He turns around, hoping that he’s not blushing as visibly as he feels like. When they see him turn around they continue just as quietly. “Thank you.”

He smiles at them. “Good night, Lyf.” Marius shuts the door behind himself and has to pause and take a deep breath of his own, otherwise he’s going to scream or smack himself. After he’s managed to keep some sort of grip on his composure, he heads back towards his own room. Probably to do one or both of those things.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post evening pining and the Mechs anticipate planetfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, It's been a hot minute, welcome back or something. Enjoy :)

Marius wouldn’t admit that it had taken him the better part of the rest of the night to recover. It had been a surprise for Lyf to actually use his first name after years of just ‘Von Raum’. He had been half convinced that they had purposefully forgotten it. But sure enough they did know his first name and Marius’ brain had just about shut down instantly. He had rationalized that Lyfrassir had been tired, physically and emotionally, and that they would go back to their typical mildly annoyed greeting in the morning.

He hadn’t really expected that Lyfrassir would continue to use his first name. As a result it had been a little bit of a surprise when Lyf had greeted him the next morning and he had almost walked into a chair. He was the only one who had seemingly earned the honor, not counting the crew who didn’t have a proper last name to use.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that any of the other crew members would smirk at him whenever it happened when Lyf couldn’t see them. If Lyf noticed the other crew they ignored the assholes and they certainly ignored how Marius would freeze for a moment the first few days whenever they addressed him. But he did eventually get used to it and everything went on without much else in the way of excessive rainbow craziness.

It was maybe after another week had gone by that Brian announced that they would be landing in a few days time. Nastya had requested some miscellaneous supplies for the Aurora and there were a pair of planets in the next system that had what they needed. Someone brought up that it had been a while since they’d performed and everyone decided that these next two planets would do nicely. This of course launched the band back into practice mode. Leading to things such as the ever present threat of violin destruction and Lyfrassir walking into their practice one day to find Jonny doing a scarily accurate impression of them and immediately leaving.

Marius had been appointed the one to tell Lyf exactly what the set was about. While they hadn’t been particularly enthused about it there hadn’t been any rainbows so Marius counted it as a win. Lyf hadn’t wanted to hear more than the general run down of the songs and had taken to avoiding the band’s practices. But he couldn’t blame them for not wanting to hear an album based on the demise of their home system over and over again. 

The practices were mostly to shake the dust out and get everything back to being performance ready, so the couple of days before they landed were plenty of time.

The crew, minus Nastya and plus Lyf, had gathered in the cargo bay as the Aurora landed at a mostly abandoned space port on the edge of town. They wouldn’t be taking any band equipment with them this first time. The first day was for scouting and chaos. Marius was checking his guns and other miscellaneous disembarking supplies while trying to keep half an eye on the others, just in case someone decided to start shooting before they got off the ship. Luckily the most likely candidate, Jonny, and typical partner in such endeavours, Tim, seemed to be fairly distracted trying to get Lyfrassir to take a gun with them. Jonny was mostly trying to convince them to shoot someone if they took the gun.

Soon enough the ramp lowered and everyone dispersed to cause whatever havoc or mayhem they had decided upon. Marius was going to head over towards where Lyf was now speaking with Ashes when Raphaella landed directly in his way.

“Hello Marius!” She said brightly, her wings stretching out behind her to take advantage of the extra space. “I was thinking we could go and scout out places for our performance and then work a couple of our songs. I want to make sure that I’ve got the right tone during Losing Track and Tim and Ashes said they were busy.”

“Uh, Sure. I was just-”

“Lovely!” She didn’t give him a chance to continue before she wrapped her arms around him and took off. Unless he wanted to get dropped, Marius didn’t particularly have a choice beyond holding on. Raph was chatting random science in his ear the whole flight closer to the town and it wasn’t until they landed he realized. She was being a distraction.

“Alright, what are you playing at?” He turned on her as soon as he was released to the ground.

“I can’t want to spend time and practice with you without some sort of ulterior motive?” She looked back at him with an innocent expression. After a moment of staring, unconvinced, She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Ashes told me she was planning to get Lyf some more clothes but you weren’t allowed to go along. I happened to actually want company so Ashes basically volunteered you.”

“So very considerate of them.”

“I thought so as well!” Raph bounced a step closer and linked their arms. “Now come on! I’m sure some general stealing and intimidating shopkeepers will be a good distraction!”

“You’re lucky I don’t want to walk back later.”

~~~

“I see they finally left you alone Lyfrassir.” The voice pulled their attention as they stepped out onto the planet. O’Reilly stood off to one side, leaning against one of the Aurora’s landing struts. “Didn’t manage to pawn a gun off on you did they.”

“I have no desire to shoot people and no current plans that would call for a firearm.” They absently looked around where the ship had landed and tried to compose their vague shopping list in their head.

They straightened and sauntered over. “Do any of those current plans include a new wardrobe?”

“As it happens, yes. Why?” Lyf was mildly suspicious considering O’Reilly had seemed to be waiting for them.

“Someone needs to make sure you fit in with the aesthetic.”

The retort that they could dress themselves thank you very much was cut off by a large rush of air and a yelp behind them. Lyf turned around and was greeted with the sight of La Cognizi hoisting a surprised Marius into the air and heading towards town. After a moment to be impressed that she could carry another person with such apparent ease, Lyf turned back to O’Reilly.

“I’m going to assume you had a hand in that.” They looked far too smug to not have been involved in the semi-abduction.

“I do not trust Marius for anything fashion related and I refuse to have him trailing along.” The shrug before stepping forwards and looping one arm through Lyf’s. “You need clothes. As Quartermaster it’s part of my duty to make sure you’re properly dressed. Now come on, from what I’ve heard you need the help.”

“I’m fairly certain I’m being insulted right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: based on the US Army it is a quartermaster's job to be in charge of clothing distribution among other specializations. I personally always tend to equate spaceships with more navy vibes but also the Mechs are space pirates so who really cares.


End file.
